Only time will tell if it was a second defective belt in a row or a problem with a pulley. If this belt also wears out fast I'll have my shop check the pulley alignment because it's not off by enough to see with the naked eye.

 

Been a little over 1200 miles and the gates belt is still quiet as can be. No other changes were made. I did inspect a little closer and found a small amount of play in the power steering pulley. I'm assuming there should be none when pulling out and pusing in on the pulley.

Maybe that is what made the dayco belt go bad, but at the same mileage the gates belt shows no signs of a problem.

 

My engine is an LS1 but I had the same kind of experiences with the belts. I tried at least one of every brand I could buy and eventually they all chirped (squeaked). I replaced all the idlers, tensioners, and even the water pump and alternator, and a later version alternator bracket because I found a TSB that suggested that. All seemed to fix it for a while, but the chirping came back every time. I finally found the reason. I remembered that the new alternator I had replaced two years earlier seemed to have slightly more space between the pulley and the front casing. I removed the alternator pulley and found a 1mm (.040") thick spacer, presumably installed during the rebuild process to allow more clearance for the retainer/cover clips for the alternator front bearing. I removed the spacer and it hasn't chirped since then (2 years later now). Now it doesn't matter which belt I use.

 

Interesting. I'll certainly keep that in mind if the belt starts making noise again.

Am I correct in assuming there should be zero play on the power steering pulley?